


Just a Little Longer (The sad ending version)

by imissedyourbones



Series: Just a Little Longer. [2]
Category: Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Angst, Baby!panic, Bad police - Freeform, Cute!Brendon, Homelessness, Kid!Fic, Let me know if I'm missing something please?, Lost Boys, Lost!ryan, Lost!spencer, Minor Character Death, Missing boys, Running from foster care, Searching for the way home, confused child, dealing with death, this is a very important issue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 17:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6248968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imissedyourbones/pseuds/imissedyourbones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baby!Panic AU. Ryan's parents die and he doesn't understand. Then there's Brendon's side of the story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Little Longer (The sad ending version)

**Author's Note:**

> Ok as I said before I've written two versions so you can choose whichever ending you want; Happy/Sad. And this is the sad one. C:  
> Let me know what you think, 'kay?

There's rain everywhere. Ryan's clothes are wet. His small, cute but ratty converse slapping against mud as he struggles to find shelter. A consignment store sign flickers across the street and he hurries over to it, trying to see through the smudged glass for any sign of life but everyone went home to get away from the rain already and there's only his reflection left to stare back at him. He's tired and sore, burning and shivering at the same time. He wants his mommy to check his forehead like she used to because he thinks he's getting sick and being sick is scary, he needs his mommy.  
His clothes seem to be dragging him down along with their weight, too heavy for his thin structure to carry. His toes are so cold he can barely feel them. He curls up and tries to touch some life back into them. It's so, so cold out here, but he'll be strong. He'll be strong until daddy and mommy come to get him. There were some people trying to take him away, telling him all kinds of lies, saying his mommy and daddy have gone somewhere they can't return from and now he had to come with them. How can they not return? They wouldn't leave him behind, no way. So he ran from those people. He doesn't really remember where his parents said they were going. maybe he was just sleepy when they told him. Yes, that must have been it. He's trying to be strong and patient like mommy always told him to when he was hungry and the food wasn't ready yet. "Just a little longer, honey." She would always say.

He doesn't know how long he's been waiting now, though. Is his mommy and daddy lost like him? He hopes not, oh god, he hopes not. They must be coming for him. Just a little longer. He just has to be patient. If only they were here, though, maybe daddy would carry him home. His feet hurt so much, his shoes got some holes in them from all the running and rocks keep getting stuck between his toes and in the soft middle of his feet. He wants mommy to get them out for him, to blow and kiss the little cuts until they were all better.  
And he's so hungry all the time, too. He asked a nice man in a blue uniform to show him the way home a couple of days ago, just like mommy said he should if he ever got lost. He doesn't really remember what she called the men in blue but he was sure this man was what she meant. The man really was nice, he gave him yummy food and water, nothing like mommy's cooking however. But he took him to a weird place Ryan didn’t like. It was crowded with so many scary people, some wearing blue like the nice man but some were yelling and trying to hit the blue men, and no one was taking Ryan home where he needed to be. He was so afraid mommy and daddy would come home and not find him, they'd be so worried, so he slipped back out when no one was paying him any attention. He had to find his way home, why didn't the blue man help? He'll have to ask mommy if those were really the men she taught him about.

  
\----

  
Brendon watches from his window, his tiny dinosaur toy clutched tightly in his little hand. He sees the boy wrap his arms around his frame desperately as he sticks close to the store's door, barely out of the rain.  
"What are you looking at, baby?"  
Brendon's mommy carries a steaming cub in her hands, her smile warm and comforting. She's got Brendon's favorite blanket with her and she waves it over in invitation as she sits on the side of his bed. Tomorrow isn't a school day so Brendon got to stay up a little longer than usual like a big boy. It's almost ten now and he's not sleepy at all, no sir. But now it's time for bed, mommy says. So Brendon obliges.  
She tucks him in and wraps him up in the monkey blanket. Daddy got it for him last Christmas. It was the best Christmas gift ever, with ears and a little tail and is so warm and soft. Mommy even puts a little of her perfume on it for him so he'd never feel lonely at night. Did that boy feel lonely? Brendon wondered. Why was he alone in the rain? Was he lost? Mommy says it's never okay to go out alone at night. Brendon is a big boy now, he listens and understand that it's dangerous. If he went out at night the bad people might get him and then he'll never see mommy and daddy again.  
The boy, Brendon decides, is a bad boy who didn't listen to his mommy and daddy.  
The hot chocolate is delicious, sugary and with a whole lot of foam just the way he likes it. Mommy kisses him good night when he's finished and he holds on to her pinky as she's moving to leave.  
"I love you mommy, You're the bestest." He tells her, slightly slurring over his S's. He really doesn't like that letter.  
His mommy smiles down at him big and beautiful and shiny, like the mermaids he sometimes sees in his dreams, "I love you too baby boy, don't you forget it."

  
\----

  
It takes two days for the rain to finally stop for good. Ryan's clothes start to dry slowly. He was so scared those last two nights. He found a safer place away from the rain but it was so dark behind the big dumpster and smelled so bad. The cats were big and black and they kept making hissing sounds at him every time he moved. He was so afraid of sleeping there but was so exhausted that he couldn't help it. The cats didn’t hurt him while he slept, though. He had a nice dream too. He dreamt of his daddy coming into the alley with a new toy for him, his mommy kissing him on the nose and hugging him to warm this awful cold that hurt his bones. He thought he could almost smell his mommy's cookies instead of the bad, bad smell that was everywhere in that dark corner too. It was so good he didn't want to wake up but he had to find mommy and daddy today, it's been too long already.  
Another kid came into his alley sometime the day before, he had some bread hidden under the big jacket he was wearing. It must be his daddy's, Ryan thought, he must be waiting for his parents too. The kid had such big blue eyes and he shared some of the food with Ryan but still didn't know where Ryan's house was when he asked him. The boy left Ryan alone after that but the food was so good on his empty tummy.  
He thinks he slept for a long while. He sees kids coming back from school now, running home and chatting together. Aren't his friends missing him? His teacher, Mrs Macy, will be so angry if he doesn’t get his homework done, he's already missed so many days. They'll understand when he tells them he was waiting for mommy and daddy to come and get him though. Where were they? He must've let go of mommy's hand at some point, that's why they lost him. He's so, so sorry. He'll be so good, he'll never let go of her hand again, if only he can go back home.  
He's ready to go home now, he wants to go home now.  
Why aren't they here yet?

  
\----

  
Brendon sees the boy again when he's coming home from school. His friend Jon is talking about his awesome new board game and how they should have a sleepover and play it all day. Brendon is so excited to ask his daddy if he could go, he's even going to remember to say "please" because that's how you should ask for things, daddy says. Then he sees the boy emerging from a little alley and watching Brendon and his friends with big eyes. Up close, the boy looks older than Brendon but not by much, still too young to be out without his mommy and daddy. His clothes are so dirty too, so he must have been playing outside again without his mommy, Brendon thinks. She's going to be so angry with him. Brendon's mommy is always angry when he gets himself so dirty.

Brendon grabs Jon's hand super tightly so he wouldn't get lost. Safety in numbers. He asks him to cross the street with him to where the boy is. First they look right, then they look left, then they hurry across the scary street. The boy is sitting against the wall now, clutching his knees to his chest tightly and staring at Brendon's bus as it disappears behind the corner. He turns to them when they stand in front of him.  
His eyes are red and his lip is trembling. Is he sad? Brendon's lip does that when he's sad.  
"Why aren't you with your mommy and daddy?" Brendon asks, trying to scold in his best parenting voice "Are you lost? You shouldn't go out without your mommy or daddy!" He thinks he does good, he's very proud of himself. Maybe no one taught the boy what Brendon knew but now Brendon taught him.

He hands the boy a clean napkin from his Spiderman backpack and tells him to clean up or else his mommy will get very mad and he shouldn't make his mommy mad.  
The boy looks at Brendon for a minute before reaching out and taking the napkin hesitantly. He tries to wipe away the dirt from his face but it only grows worse, smudging all over his face. He looks at the dirty napkin and his lip keeps on trembling and he cries and cries and cries and Brendon doesn't know what to do.  
He hugs the boy tightly and pulls Jon into the hug too until his mommy comes to get them.

\----

  
The strange boy's mommy comes to grab her son worriedly when he's late from school and she takes Ryan back to those people who still insist that his mommy and daddy aren't coming back. He's so dirty, the boy's right, and he doesn't want his mommy to be mad at him. He didn't mean to get dirty. He hurts so much, hurts everywhere, and he doesn't want to be strong and patient anymore. He sniffles and tries to swallow his tears but he can't.  
Please, he'll never let go of her hand again, he promises.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know! Baby!fics aren't supposed to be sad but don't kill me just yet! I just wanted to shed some light on how many homeless kids there are who have lost their parents and actually really don't understand what death even means or can't find it in themselves to believe that their parents are actually gone now... Idk, this just happened.  
> Hope you enjoyed, though!


End file.
